Trucks

Troubleshooting Your Truck Trailer

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Image of Tractor trailer truck

If you have a trailer for your truck, you can use it for several different applications. Trailers are the best way to haul vehicles, boats, and large loads. They allow you to attach and detach your load quickly without having to completely unload it. You also get much more space to put your items and haul them. However, you need to make sure they are properly serviced. Your trailer needs to be connected firmly to your vehicle at the trailer hitch so that it stays in place as you are driving. That is important for safety reasons as well as the safe operation of the trailer. However, the trailer also needs to be connected electrically.

Electrical Connections

As you are driving, there are electrical connections that you need to maintain between your vehicle and your trailer. For example, when you step on the brakes, your brake lights come on. That signals to all of the drivers behind you that you are slowing down; they’ll then know to slow down as well. It can even be more difficult for drivers to gauge the distance between themselves and the vehicle in front of them if they are following a trailer. The trailer throws off the perception of how far away they are. Therefore, brake lights are incredibly helpful to alert drivers behind you. You need to make sure your brake lights are properly connected so that you can alert drivers behind you of what you’re doing.

The same is true of turn signals. A trailer takes a much longer time to turn than just your vehicle alone. It is more involved and has a greater turn radius. Therefore, you need to have working turn signals on both sides, and they need to be working on your vehicle as well as the trailer. You can find connectors, fuses, and other electrical supplies at On Auto to ensure that they are working properly.

Troubleshooting

You need to test to make sure your trailer’s connections are working appropriately every time you start your trailer. Since you probably don’t drive around with your trailer attached every day, you need to make sure they are working every time you set up the trailer. If you have someone else with you, it’s fairly easy. You just need to get into the driver’s seat and go through the different lights. Press the brake to check to the brake lights, turn on the indicator to check to the turn signals, and press the hazards to check the hazard lights. If you don’t have a partner to be your second set of eyes, you need to be a little more creative.

To check your lights, you can put a piece of white paper or a mirror behind your trailer. Doing so will reflect the lights from the rear of your trailer. You can also try backing up close to a white wall to see the reflection. You should be able to see as long as it’s not too bright of a day. If anything is wrong, you should buy new connectors for your trailer.

Joe Lee
Hi, My name is Joe Lee and I am the founder of Antechauto.com My purpose of creating this blog is to spread the knowledge of auto with others.

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